Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Growing up, I remember many of my "Lowell Relatives" working in the textile mills in Lowell Massachusetts. In fact, my grandmother left school after fifth grade because a financial need in the family meant that she go to work there. Of course, this was not unusual in that day and age. Years later, we would sometimes go to the "mill stores" along the Merrimack River to purchase seconds from the factories for our home sewing. When I moved to Georgia, my best friend and I made more than one such trip to the southern textile factory that was fairly close by.

Today, I try to carry American made products in the shop whenever I can, but the majority of fabric is produced overseas and then imported. I have better luck with locally and American produced yarn and also carry a line of knitting needles and crochet hooks, Brittany Birch, that are a totally American production. But again, some of the yarn and notions I carry are produced overseas.

Courtesy of Brittany Birch Co.

So, it was with pleasure that I read the following in a Knitting Daily email I received about the editor's recent trip to India to visit the Knitter's Pride factory:

We also became acquainted with the company's corporate giving, which includes establishing and continuing to fund a rural school that prioritizes the education of girls. Knitter's Pride executives are passionate about the advancement of girls and women, as the company's hiring policy demonstrates: any woman who wants a job with the company is hired, no exceptions. For women in remote villages, such economic opportunities are rare.Because the end users of these needles are predominantly women, it's encouraging to know our crafting cash goes back to women in some important way.

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About Me

I’ve recently retired from my teaching career after 25 years in middle school and I’m excited to begin a new phase of my life as a shop owner.
Crafts are a source of enjoyment for me and provide a real feeling of accomplishment. I’m neither a purist nor a perfectionist when it comes to knitting and quilting: I do these because they are fun, useful, and a creative outlet.